Defective by Design - amazonhttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/topic/amazon
enAmazon Kindle extinguishes the fire of learninghttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/kindle-fire
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/kindle">kindle</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/435">kindlefire</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/436">kindle-3g</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/437">kindle-fire</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/438">whispernet</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/439">bezos</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p>Amazon came out with their newest line of Kindle ebook readers today,
including the appropriately named "Kindle Fire".</p>
<p>To quote their TV commercial: "The instruction we find in books is
like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home,
communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all." </p>
<p>This device does not kindle that fire -- it extinguishes it, with more of the same digital restrictions.</p>
<p>Let's look at the facts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Amazon claims you have no right to sell or share the books you buy. They advertise a "lending" feature which, at best, allows you to lend a book one time <em>ever</em>, to one person, who must also be a Kindle user. You don't get to make the decision about whether you can lend a book or not -- the publisher and Amazon do. That's not sharing.</p></li>
<li><p>In fact, when people tried to cooperate to make large-scale use of the lending function, Amazon shut them down. The most prominent example of this was the web site Lendle, which is back up now, albeit with fewer features, including a feature which made it easy to lend the books you have without typing in all the titles -- a move forced on them by Amazon to discourage sharing.</p></li>
<li><p>The power exerted over its users, arbitrarily blocking lending of books and <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984">remotely removing books</a>, is unacceptable even if they later change their minds or promise to stop doing it.</p></li>
<li><p>Amazon is working its way into public libraries and schools now, subverting the functioning of the very places they, in the above quote, claim to support.</p></li>
<li><p>Via the wireless connectivity of these devices, Amazon can hold data about everything you read. </p></li>
<li><p>Also via the connectivity, Amazon can delete books from Kindles. They have already done this multiple times. They say they won't do it anymore, but they make users sign an agreement which still gives them the authority to. They have demonstrated only reasons to doubt their word.</p></li>
<li><p>Although it is possible to use the Kindle for DRM-free materials, that is not the system that Amazon is promoting or working most actively toward. Funding Amazon's work in this area, even if you use it differently, is supporting their moves at limiting sharing and access to books.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The result: More of the same: A major threat to the shareability -- like fire -- that has enabled human culture and knowledge to advance.</strong></p>
<h3>Take action!</h3>
<ul><li>Send a message to Amazon's Kindle Team via Twitter -- @amazonkindle -- be wary of using Twitter directly, as it uses proprietary JavaScript. Using your Twitter account via <a href="http://identi.ca/">identi.ca</a> is a good choice.</li>
<li>Contact Amazon customer services: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/kindle-help.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200127470&type=email&mode=&skip=true">Chat, phone and email support here</a> and ask them to drop DRM from the Kindle.</li></ul></div></div></div>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:59:34 +0000Matt Lee2203 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgKettling Wikileakshttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/wikileaks
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/371">wikileaks</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p>This article provides an important back story to our DRM campaign. Here at DefectiveByDesign we try to give our readers the bigger picture of how DRM is a threat to society's freedom: it's more than just about access to music and movies.</p>
<p>("Kettling" refers to the police tactic of surrounding a large group of
protestors in the middle of a protest and keeping them under siege for
hours.)</p>
<p>This is a longer version than <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/17/anonymous-wikileaks-protest-amazon-mastercard">the version published by the Guardian</a>.</p<
<p>The Anonymous web protests are the Internet equivalent of a mass
demonstration. It's a mistake to call them hacking (playful
cleverness) or cracking (security breaking). The LOIC program that
protesters use is prepackaged, so no cleverness is needed to run it,
and it does not break any computer's security. The protesters have
not tried to take control of Amazon's web site, or extract any data
from MasterCard. They enter through the site's front door, and it
can't cope with so many visitors.</p>
<p>Calling these protests "DDOS attacks" is misleading too. A DDOS
attack properly speaking is done with thousands of "zombie" computers.
Someone broke the security of those computers (often with a virus) and
took remote control of them, then rigged them up as a "botnet" to do
in unison whatever he directs (in this case, to overload a server).
By contrast, the Anonymous protesters have generally directed their
own computers to support the protest.</p>
<p>The proper comparison is with the crowds that descended last week on
Topshop stores. They didn't break into the stores or take any goods
from them, but they sure caused a nuisance for the owner, who also
"advises" the UK government &mdash; presumably to let him continue
extracting money without paying tax.</p>
<p>I wouldn't like it one bit if my store (supposing I had one) were the
target of a large protest. Amazon and MasterCard don't like it
either, and their clients were annoyed. Those who hoped to buy at
Topshop on the day of the protest may have been annoyed too.</p>
<p>The Internet cannot function if web sites are frequently blocked by
crowds, just as a city cannot function if its streets are constantly
full of protests. But before you support a crackdown on Internet
protests, consider what they are protesting: in the Internet, users
have no rights. As the Wikileaks case has demonstrated, what we do in
the Internet, we do on sufferance.</p>
<p>In the physical world, we have the right to print and sell books.
Anyone trying to stop us would need to go to court. That right is
weak in the UK (consider superinjunctions), but at least it exists.
However, to set up a web site we need the cooperation of a domain name
company, an ISP, and often a hosting company, any of which can be
pressured to cut us off.</p>
<p>In the US, no law explicitly requires this precarity.
Rather, it is embodied in contracts that we have allowed those
companies to establish as normal. It is as if we all lived in rented
rooms and landlords could evict anyone at a moment's notice.</p>
<p>Reading too is done on sufferance. In the physical world, you can buy
a book anonymously with cash. Once you own it, you are free to give,
lend, or sell it to someone else. You are also free to keep it.
However, in the virtual world, "e-book readers" have digital handcuffs
to stop you from giving, lending or selling a book, as well as
licenses to forbid that. In 2009, Amazon used a back door in its
e-book reader to remotely delete thousands of copies of 1984, by
George Orwell. The Ministry of Truth has been privatized.</p>
<p>In the physical world, we have the right to pay money and to receive
money &mdash; even anonymously. On the Internet, we can receive money only
with the approval of organizations such as PayPal and MasterCard, and
the security state tracks payments moment by moment.
Punishment-on-accusation laws such as the Digital Economy Act extend
this pattern of precarity to Internet connectivity.</p>
<p>What you do in your own computer is also controlled by others, with
nonfree software. Microsoft and Apple systems implement digital
handcuffs &mdash; features specifically designed to restrict users.
Continued use of a program or feature is precarious too: Apple put a
back door in the iPhone to remotely delete installed applications. A
back door observed in Windows enables Microsoft to install software
changes without asking permission.</p>
<p>I started the free software movement to replace user-controlling
nonfree software with freedom-respecting free software. With free
software, we can at least control what software does in our own
computers. The LOIC program used for Anonymous protests is free
software; in particular, users can read its source code and change it,
so it cannot impose malicious features as Windows and MacOS can.</p>
<p>The US state today is a nexus of power for corporate interests. Since
it must pretend to serve the people, it fears the truth may leak.
Hence its parallel campaigns against Wikileaks: to crush it through
the precarity of the Internet and to formally limit freedom of the
press.</p>
<p>Disconnecting Wikieaks is comparable to besieging protesters in a
London square. Preemptive police attacks provoke reaction; then they
use the small wrongs of an angry people to distract from the giant
wrongs of the state. Thus, the UK arrested the protester who swung
from a flag, but not the man (presumably a cop) who cracked a
student's skull. Likewise, states seek to imprison the Anonymous
protesters rather than official torturers and murderers. The day when
our governments prosecute war criminals and tell us the truth,
Internet crowd control may be our most pressing remaining problem. I
will rejoice if I see that day.</p>
<p>Copyright 2010 Richard Stallman &mdash; Released under the Creative Commons Attribution Noderivs License.</p></div></div></div>Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:09:57 +0000PeterB2163 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgAmazon app store for Android welcomes DRMhttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon-android-drm
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/52">mp3</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/365">android</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even">
<p>In 2007, Amazon announced their music store. It would, they promised, deliver DRM-free music to U.S. Amazon users. And they did just that. With much fanfare, they rolled out Amazon MP3, touting music downloads for any device. On <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=help_search_1-1?ie=UTF8&amp;nodeId=200143320&amp;qid=1287168422&amp;sr=1-1">their website</a>, they explain what's special about their music sales. "DRM-free means that the MP3 files you purchase from Amazon.com do not contain any software that will restrict your use of the file."</p>
<p>In January of 2010, <a href="http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=16138&amp;news=Amazon+Kindle+App+Store+E-Book">Amazon began to talk about apps for the Kindle</a>. This came as a bit of a surprise. Previously, the proprietary operating system made the Kindle forbidden territory to developers. The Kindle, notable for its DRM-heavy operating procedures, was going to be changed by apps. Changes in the Digital Text Platform brought on by this announcement affected how publishers interact with DRM in the devices by allowing them the chance to sell ebooks DRM-free. According to <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CB4QFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brighthand.com%2Fdefault.asp%3FnewsID%3D16138%26news%3DAmazon%2BKindle%2BApp%2BStore%2BE-Book&amp;ei=OaS4TI3NMc6s8AaNy43_Dg&amp;usg=AFQjCNHo9mwP2ABl0AfENVQtHUKR1cR9KA&amp;sig2=fb1jQtaFUb88PBSTWWBSgg">Brighthand</a>, Amazon claimed that it had always been possible to release DRM-free texts for the Kindle, but the changes made the option explicit and easy. </p>
<p>With the Wall Street Journal's <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704696304575538273116222304.html">October 7th confirmation</a> of rumors that Amazon is now going to be opening up an Android app store, one of the first questions I had to ask was about DRM. While Amazon MP3 is pretty awesome, the Kindle itself is not a good example of free use. The rumors of Amazon's Android App Store were littered with <a href="http://www.htlounge.net/art/13637/due-to-app-store-terms-amazon-would-force-drm.html">claims</a> that Amazon would be forcing DRM onto apps. Amazon helped clear up rumors when they sent out a <a href="http://www.engadget.com/photos/amazon-sends-welcome-packet-to-prospective-app-store-devs/#3448443">welcome packet</a> to prospective developers. All apps must go through the "Amazon App Packaging Tool," which gives developers the option of "protecting [their] app by utilizing DRM, or distributing [their] app without DRM."(1) </p>
<p>Amazon will not, in fact, be forcing people to put DRM on their apps, but they're still giving the option. When they first introduced Amazon MP3, there was a major change in how digital music was being legally distributed. Record labels and Amazon wanted to challenge what was then Apple's growing monopoly on the market. Individuals and spokespeople for companies like EMI(2) spoke about something inherently wrong in the nature of DRM in music. At the time, Amazon was lobbying record labels Sony BMG and Warner in hopes of selling more DRM-free music. </p>
<p>In trying to find a seemingly happy medium between forcing DRM, as they originally had with Kindles, and supporting DRM-free, Amazon offered DRM-optional, starting with Kindle apps and expanding to their Android App Store. This, unfortunately, is not good enough. Their commitment has been to making money at the expense of the rights of people purchasing from them. </p>
<p>Amazon is backsliding. Amazon MP3 is something special because it's different. It's not a perfect solution to digital music sales, because it does not use free formats like Ogg Vorbis. Instead, it sells files in the MP3 format, which is <a href="http://playogg.org">encumbered by patents</a> that have led to court cases against free MP3 encoders. However, Amazon MP3 did take an important step. We didn't need another digital music retail source—we needed a DRM-free digital music retail source. Similarly, we don't need another app store, for Android or any other device. We need a DRM-free, free software one.</p>
<p>(1)Amazon Welcome Packet &lt;<a href="http://www.engadget.com/photos/amazon-sends-welcome-packet-to-prospective-app-store-devs/#3448485">http://www.engadget.com/photos/amazon-sends-welcome-packet-to-prospective-app-store-devs/#3448485</a>&gt;</p>
<p>(2)Kraveets, D. "Like Amazon's DRM-Free Music Downloads? Thank Apple". Wired. 25, September, 2007. </p>
<p>Molly de Blanc (mollydb) is a campaigns intern at the Free Software Foundation. She likes free software, free press, and free movie passes. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:campaigns-interns@fsf.org">the campaigns intern account</a>. </p> </div></div></div>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:02:56 +0000mollydb1579 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgDRM In (and Out) of Schoolshttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/drm-in-and-out-of-schools
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/20">apple</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/kindle">kindle</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/364">ipad</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even">
<p>Kindles and iPads are making their way into classrooms across the world. Schools like <a href="http://www.setonhill.edu/techadvantage/">Seton Hill</a> and <a href="http://www.georgefox.edu/featured_stories/iPad-MacBook.html">George Fox</a> are giving iPads to incoming students. <a href="http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_14904063">Monte Vista Christian School</a>, in California, has sixty of them that are now in the hands of advanced placement students. <a href="http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/512977.html">Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop High School</a> in Minnesota ordered 320 for their students in April of this year. Dr. Joseph Kim of <a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/04/ipad-mandatory-medical-school.html">KevinMD.com</a> calls for making iPads mandatory for medical school students. <a href="http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2010/august/ipad.html">Stanford University</a> seems excited about the idea and gave them out to first year medical students this year. <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/clearwater-high-students-get-their-kindles/1121944"> Clearwater High School</a> in Florida gave all 2000 of their students Kindles at the start of the 2010-2011 academic year. <a href="http://blog.worldreader.org//">WorldReader.Org</a>, a non-profit founded by an Amazon executive, did a pilot program for e-book readers in schools in Ghana with Kindles. Some people are excited about the use of these new technologies in classrooms.</p>
<p>But not everyone.</p>
<p>There are two major reasons why Kindles and iPads have no place in schools, both of which are related to DRM (Digital Restrictions Management).</p>
<ul>
<li>1. DRM prevents learning. It's the information that is a resource. The access to this information is provided by tools. DRM actually makes it <em>illegal</em> for students to keep learning past a certain point, by preventing them from looking closely at how the devices work or from making their own methods for accessing, using, and sharing the information.</li>
<li> 2.DRM is, in the words of a guy I almost knew, “jus' morally wrong.” Forcing DRM on people, even more so.</li>
</ul>
<p>In the summer of 2009, copies of “1984” and “Animal Farm,” both by George Orwell, disappeared from Kindles across America. MobileReference, the digital publisher who had been selling these ebooks, did not have the rights to them. When this came out, Amazon deleted the books off Kindles. Other Kindle owners complain of similar deletions surrounding various editions of other books, including Harry Potter. The biggest problem with this is most clearly demonstrated in a New York Times' article:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Justin Gawronski, a 17-year-old from the Detroit area, was reading
“1984” on his Kindle for a summer assignment and lost all his notes
and annotations when the file vanished. “They didn’t just take a
book back, they stole my work,” he said.[1]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The text of “1984” itself was what he needed for his assignment and that text, his resource, was taken away by his tool. In losing his copy of “1984,” Mr. Gawronski did not just lose a copy: he lost his experience of the book and his own work related to it.</p>
<p>The fundamental problem with DRM from a user standpoint is having mediated access to the text. When you own a book, you own your copy of the book. You can read it for any purpose. You can read to learn, to share an experience with others, to have fun. You can study how the book works and change it. You can comment in the margins, highlight and underline sections. In theory, you can cut the book up, rearrange the parts. You can lend it to your friends. If someone comes into your house to take it without your permission, it's called “being robbed.” When you own an ebook with DRM, you have none of these freedoms. Maybe you can use your ebook reader to make comments and highlight sections, but that book can be deleted without anyone even coming into your house. This is not to say that real books are the only way and that ebook readers are bad—this is to say that how they are being managed with DRM-laden books is. </p>
<p>DRM is not an educational resource or tool. It is a restriction that inhibits people's access to resources. Which, in part, is why DRM is “jus' morally wrong.”</p>
<p>When schools give students iPads and Kindles, they are forcing an opinion on their students. They are taking away their students' right to make a decision—a decision with ethical consequences. I won't call it tantamount to making vegetarians eat meat, or forcing people to pray to gods that are not their own, but forcing someone not just to use a DRM system, but to support a DRM system, is removing access to their own freedoms. These are not just the freedoms of choice, they are freedoms of use, freedoms of study, freedoms of sharing, and freedoms of ownership. </p>
<p>Ebook readers and tablet computers might be excellent educational tools. We should be using them in schools. However, we need to be using ones that respect students' freedom. People need to be able to have access to their work, to own not just what they produce in school, but their own experiences of education. </p>
<hr />
<p>For a more complete list, check out <a href="http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Defective_by_Design/Schools">LibrePlanet's list</a> and please add to it. To get a full account of why DRM is wrong, check out other articles on <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/">Defective by Design</a>. Or <a href="mailto:campaigns-interns@fsf.org">drop me a line</a>. I'd be glad to talk about it more. </p>
<p>[1] Stone, B. “Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle Devices.” The New York Times. 17, July, 2009. </p> </div></div></div>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:26:12 +0000mollydb1333 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgDRM Weekly Newshttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1259
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/riaa">RIAA</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/ebooks">ebooks</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/steam">Steam</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/ap">The AP</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/public_domain">Public Domain</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/tenenbaum">Tenenbaum</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><strong><em>Hi, I'm Sarah Adelaida and I am working at the FSF this summer as part of a
newly launched internship program. I will be posting new DRM news
each Friday. If you'd like to know more about me read
<a href="my
letter of introduction">http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/sarah-mcintire-introduction/</a> -- if you see stories we should mention here,
please <a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">let me know</a>.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Steam, eight ways to violate your freedoms</strong>
Steam is an online service by Valve Corporation which allows you to
purchase and download games that you access by signing in to an
account. According to their user agreement, access to games is associated with the
account, not the computer. But before you sign up, I urge you to take a look at the
<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/">subscriber
agreement</a> first.
You may not like what you find: DRM and several violations of the four
freedoms. </p>
<ul>
<li>As far as I can tell, the software even won't work on my operating system. It only works for Windows and Mac.</li>
<li>You must have an Internet connection to play your games. </li>
<li>People can't offer it in Internet cafes (no commercial usage):"Agreement does not allow you to exploit the Steam Software or any of its parts for any commercial purpose including, but not limited to, use at a Cybercafe"**</li>
<li>You're forced to install Steam's software updates onto your computer. </li>
<li>You're only permitted to use Steam Software how Steam says you can. </li>
<li>You do not own the games you buy:"The Steam Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Steam Software."</li>
<li>You're not allowed to modify Steam Software. </li>
<li>You are not allowed to re-sell your game. </li>
</ul>
<p>Steam is a perfect example of how DRM curtails your rights.</p>
<p><strong>MPAA, RIAA Lawyer: We reject the view, that copyright owners and their licensees are required to provide consumers with perpetual access to creative works</strong></p>
<p>In response to the idea of an exception to an existing copyright law
which would permit users to remove DRM from their media when the corresponding keyservers
will be permanently shut down, Steven Metalitz--the Washington,
DC lawyer who represents the MPAA and RIAA--is quoted in a letter with
this gem: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We reject the view, that copyright owners and their licensees are
required to provide consumers with perpetual access to creative
works. No other product or service providers are held to such lofty
standards. No one expects computers or other electronics devices to
work properly in perpetuity, and there is no reason that any
particular mode of distributing copyrighted works should be required
to do so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Steven, you're missing the point. Nate Anderson from <em>Ars Technica</em>
says it best: <strong><em><a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/big-content-ridiculous-to-expect-drmed-music-to-work-forever.ars">"While computers and electronics devices do break down
over time, these music tracks were crippled by design."</a></em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Barnes and Noble is offering ebooks with DRM on books already in the public domain</strong></p>
<p>Barnes and Noble is offering DRMed promotional copies of its new ebooks, except these
books are already in the public domain. B&amp;N "explains" why the public domain books it's giving away
"free" are protected by DRM: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090730/0257115712.shtml">'We selected public domain titles as our free eBooks because these
books are traditionally among our customers' favorite works of
literature.... Also, for copyright protection purposes, these files
are encrypted and cannot be converted or
printed.'</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Um, what? How can Barnes and Noble "protect" copyright on something
that is already in the public domain? </p>
<p><strong>The AP will no longer discuss its DRM for news</strong></p>
<p>If you haven't heard -- the Associated Press is considering <a href="http://www.ap.org/media/images/APnewsregistry.jpg">putting DRM on their
news</a>. </p>
<p>How exactly this is going to be done, I'm still not quite sure. From
what I can tell, they are going to <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090723/1858235640.shtml">track the
news</a> by
using some sort of formatting. Honestly, no one seems to understand
how DRM on their news is going to work, which is why it's terrible
that the AP will <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/blog_article.php?aid=2269497">no longer discuss
it</a>. The irony
is rich, a news organization refuses to discuss any more news on its
own news.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://techdirt.com/articles/20090731/1531275733.shtml">RIAA Tenenbaum Update</a></strong></p>
<p>Tenenbaum is the second RIAA file sharing defendant to go before a
jury. He's a 25-year-old Boston University graduate student who was
accused of sharing 30 songs. Apparently, because Tenenbaum has
admitted to sharing his tracks he can be fined up to $150,000 per
track under the Copyright Act, if the jury determines he shared these
songs willfully. The RIAA asked the judge to make it clear that the
maximum that can be fined per song is
<a href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/07/riaa-jugular/">encouraged</a>. Tenenbaum
is the second person to go to trial, the first being Thomas-Rasset.
The RIAA has sued around 30,00 people over the last six years, but most
have been settled out of court.
--The jury charged Tenenbaum with $22,500 per song--</p>
<p><strong>Amazon gets sued for deleting <em>1984</em> ebooks</strong></p>
<p>A teenager who was using his Kindle ebook reader to read <em>1984</em> for
school is suing Amazon for deleting his copy remotely. He didn't
just lose the book, he lost all of the notes he was taking digitally
in the margins. His attorney argues, <a>“Technology companies
increasingly feel that because they have the ability to access people's
personal property, they have the right to do so. That is 100% contrary
to the laws of this country.”</a></p>
<p>Well said.</p>
<br />
<p>**At the time this was written this statement was true; however, they have since offered a service that is allowed to be used at cyber cafes</p></div></div></div>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:26:09 +0000sarahmac1259 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgUpdate: hundreds of 1-star reviews added to Kindle page!https://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1249
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/ebook">ebook</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/kindle">kindle</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/swindle">swindle</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/reviews">reviews</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/1star">1star</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/tagging">tagging</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><b> Update: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes</b> - see our <a href="http://www.fsf.org/news/amazon-apologizes">press release</a>, and Digg <a href="http://digg.com/gadgets/FSF_welcomes_Amazon_apology_but_asks_them_to_free_the_Kindle">this news</a>
</p>
<p>This week's Kindle action is going great; together we've generated hundreds of 1-star reviews and tags. </p>
<p>Then there was a <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2223214/">great article in Slate</a> by Farhad Manjoo, Amazon's top "expert reviewer" on the Kindle's product page, retracting his recommendation. This would be a perfect article to share with friends and co-workers, to introduce them to the problem of DRM (diggable <a href="http://digg.com/d3y1yn">here</a>).</p>
<p>If you haven't written a review yet, here are direct links to the review forms. Take a few minutes to explain to potential Kindle buyers why they shouldn't get one: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_wr_but_right?ie=UTF8&nodeID=370783011&asin=B00154JDAI&store=fiona-hardware">6" Kindle</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_wr_but_right?ie=UTF8&nodeID=370783011&asin=B0015TCML0&store=fiona-hardware">Kindle DX</a>.
<p>If your review wasn't published by Amazon, definitely let us know. We'll be busy picking our next product to target (if you have any suggestions, email us at info@defectivebydesign.org). In the meantime, we thought we'd share some of our favorite reviews below. Awesome job, everyone.</p>
<!--break-->
<p>
"I had Kindle in my basket, ready to hit the purchase button. As an avid reader, I thought long and hard about going digital.... However, when the news broke that amazon deleted 1984 from owners' devices, my blood curdled. How stunningly and ironically 1984ish."
<br />___<br />
"Amazon has created a book licensing service, not a book selling service. I'm disgusted by the idea that not only can I not share books with friends, but I can't even depend on having them myself."
<br />___<br />
"Nice! Not only can you pay an insanely expensive amount for a book reader, Amazon can delete the books you buy too! Sounds like a great deal, doesn't it?"
<br />___<br />
"I absolutely love the idea of having a library of books with me wherever I go. I love the choice of reading whatever book wherever I want, whenever I want and not have to search out a bookstore to purchase a book. Amazon provides this service very well. The problem with the Kindle is its restriction on user freedom. When I 'purchase' and ebook from Amazon, I do not own the book in the same way I own a physical book. I am not free to read it wherever I want (on any device I choose) nor can I give it away, share it with my friends, donate it or sell it. The user is entirely at the mercy of the distributor."
<br />___<br />
"The technology itself is great. If it weren't for the the proprietary format of the eBooks and the DRM I would definitely get one. Those are killer defects for me, enough to cripple all the advantages of the technology. I want to have as much control over my eBooks as I want over my paper ones."
</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:37:36 +0000holmesworcester1249 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgDouble-plus ungood: give Amazon's Kindle a 1-star reviewhttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/kindle">kindle</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/swindle">swindle</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/1984">1984</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/reviews">reviews</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/1star">1star</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/tagging">tagging</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p><a href="http://digg.com/gadgets/Tell_Kindle_buyers_Amazon_can_delete_your_books">Digg this!</a>
<p>We are not joking. Late last week, Amazon deleted purchased copies of George Orwell's <em>1984</em> and <em>Animal Farm</em> from the ebook readers of hundreds of users. <em>New York Times</em> tech writer David Pogue <a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/some-e-books-are-more-equal-than-others/">summarizes it best</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned .... </p>
<p>You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony? The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were '1984' and 'Animal Farm.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We're relaunching our "defective by design" tagging campaign, and we couldn't have asked for a better occasion or a better target. <b>Here's what you can do:</b></p>
<p>1. Go to the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Generation/dp/B00154JDAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t">Kindle Amazon page</a>.</p>
<p>2. Give the Kindle a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_wr_but_right?ie=UTF8&nodeID=370783011&asin=B00154JDAI&store=fiona-hardware">quick but thoughtful 1-star review</a>.</p>
<p>3, <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/node/1096">Tag it</a> "defectivebydesign", "kindle swindle", and "1984".</p>
<p>4. Do the same thing for the pricier version, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Amazons-Wireless-Generation/dp/B0015TCML0/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t">Kindle DX.</a></p>
<p>5. <a href="http://digg.com/gadgets/Tell_Kindle_buyers_Amazon_can_delete_your_books">Digg this article!</A>
<p>6. Bonus: send a message to publishers by tagging Kindle books. Here are the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Books-Kindle/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=154606011">top selling books for Kindle</a>.</p>
<p><b>And here are some talking points you might use in your review:</b></p>
<p>
1. When you buy a Kindle, Amazon controls it, not you. They can enter into your Kindle and delete your books at any time.</p>
<p>2. They recently deleted hundreds of readers' copies of <em>1984</em> without their permission (I'm not joking, Google "Amazon 1984").</p>
<p>3. Amazon's software allows them not only to delete books at any time, but also to cripple them -- as they did recently when they disabled the "read aloud" Text to Speech feature on already purchased titles.</p>
<p>4. Amazon refuses to clarify what exactly their DRM system can do, or how they will or won't use it. Deceptive advertising practices like this are currently being looked into by the Federal Trade Commission. Notice that there is no mention or warning of DRM on the Kindle page.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html?_r=1&amp;scp=2&amp;sq=kindle&amp;st=cse">New York Times article</a> quoted a student who lost his notes and annotations when the book was deleted: "'They didn’t just take a book back, they stole my work,' he said."</p>
<!-break-->
<p>We've campaigned against the Kindle before, and it's having an impact. Check out <a href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/42294512.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ">this op-ed</a> in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Star Tribune by a columnist who noticed our campaign. He still bought the Swindle, but his article shows that the tags and reviews give shoppers significant pause. </p>
<p>The story caught fire over the weekend and was on the <em>Times'</em> "most emailed" list. Even people who don't know what DRM means appreciate the irony; they understand that there's something fundamentally wrong with technology that works this way. This is a perfect story to spread, and a perfect moment to target the Kindle for 1-star reviews.</p>
<p>Over the coming weeks, Sarah, Matt, John and I will be selecting more DRM-infected products for the tags and the 1-star reviews they deserve. We're looking for hot new products, or products that make particularly appalling use of DRM. If you'd like to suggest one, email us at <a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">&#105;&#x6E;&#x66;&#x6F;&#64;&#100;&#101;&#x66;&#101;&#x63;&#116;&#105;v&#101;&#x62;&#x79;&#100;&#101;&#x73;&#x69;&#x67;&#x6E;&#x2E;&#x6F;rg</a>.</p></div></div></div>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:34:52 +0000holmesworcester1248 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgFriday DRM Newshttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1244
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/swindle">swindle</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/friday_drm_news">Friday DRM News</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/telecom">Telecom</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/random_house">Random House</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/internship">Internship</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/empirical_study">Empirical Study</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p>Hello, my name is Sarah and I am working at the FSF this summer as part of a newly launched internship program. I will be posting new DRM news each Friday. If you'd like to know more about me read <a href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/sarah-mcintire-introduction/view?searchterm=sarah">my letter of introduction</a>. If you see stories we should mention here, please <a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">let me know</a>.</p>
<p>Many companies are still putting DRM on their products, even though it has repeatedly been shown that it does not prevent filesharing. An <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/landmark-study-drm-truly-does-make-pirates-out-of-us-all.ars">empirical study</a> done by Patricia Akester, a professor of law at Cambridge, found that DRM does more harm than good on an individual basis and in one instance even led the consumer who otherwise would not have to obtain an illegally shared copy. This user, who is sight-impaired, downloaded an ebook from Amazon and was surprised to learn that it did not enable the text-to-speech option. Upon contacting Amazon, which does not refund ebooks, she was referred to the publisher who in turn referred her back to Amazon. Not receiving any help from Amazon or the publisher, she then decided to download an illegal copy that provided the text-to-speech function. As Nate Anderson writes, “The study confirms what anyone who has ever wanted to rip a DVD to their computer or iPod could have told you: DRM, coupled with anticircumvention laws, makes pirates of us all.” </p>
<p>This is reminiscent of an <a href="http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/02/random-house-di/">investigation</a> completed by Random House publishing, which found that not one of their DRM-free audiobooks sold on eMusic.com could be found being illegally shared. DRM is unethical and coercive to begin with -- if it doesn't even prevent illegal sharing, why are companies like Telecom, and Amazon still releasing products with it? Telecom recently launched the <a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/telecom-s-launches-nzs-largest-mobile-music-store-it-s-wrapped-drm-104081">biggest mobile music store in New Zealand</a>, complete with DRM. The DRM on the downloaded songs does not allow for the songs to be used on any other devices except those that work with Telecom's XT networks. On <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Generation/dp/B00154JDAI/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&amp;s=electronics&amp;qid=1245791985&amp;sr=1-1">Amazon's</a> Web site, it boasts to allow users to “... wirelessly re-download books for free anytime.” Unfortunately, this claim is not true. There is a limit that is placed on the amount of times a user can re-download a Kindle book, making this another example of it being a <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/impeach-jeff-bezos-for-kindle-swindle">Swindle</a>. <a href="http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/145330">One user</a> unpleasantly found this out after he switched from his iPod Touch to an iPhone, but was not able to upload all of his books back on his Kindle reader application. After contacting Amazon, he was informed that he had re-downloaded his books too many times. He was told by an Amazon representative that Amazon does not even know how many times a user is permitted to re-download a Kindle book, despite the claim on their Web site.</p>
<p>Companies must not restrict freedom as a marketing strategy. As David Lee, a gaming industry examiner writes, “...it’s a case of demand not matching up with prescribed delivery methods." Hopefully companies will retire DRM and use demonstrated ways to market their products that do not infringe upon their customers rights. There is still a need for a system that encourages creative distribution through an incentive system, but that system should not work by infringing on users' rights. DRM's influence over users is decidedly negative, and on top of that it just doesn't work.</p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:58:54 +0000sarahmac1244 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgImpeach Bezos for Amazon's Kindle Swindlehttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1241
<div class="field field--name-upload field--type-file field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><table class="sticky-enabled">
<thead><tr><th>Attachment</th><th>Size</th> </tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd"><td><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="Image icon" title="image/jpeg" src="/modules/file/icons/image-x-generic.png" /> <a href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org/sites/defectivebydesign.org/files/015000071301.jpg" type="image/jpeg; length=45807" title="015000071301.jpg">015000071301.jpg</a></span></td><td>44.73 KB</td> </tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div></div></div><div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/kindle">kindle</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/swindle">swindle</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><p>
<a style="font-size:large;" href="http://digg.com/gadgets/Impeach_Bezos_for_Amazon_s_Kindle_Swindle"><strong>Digg this story!</strong></a>
</p>
<p><img style="float:right;padding-left:1em;padding-bottom:1em;" src="http://static.fsf.org/fsforg/img/peaches.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Ian's <a href="http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44350&amp;highlight=amazon+banning">story of being banned from
Amazon</a> for returning too many things
reminds me of a <a href="http://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheMango.html">Seinfeld
episode</a>, where Kramer gets
banned from Joe's Fruit Market -- the best fruit market in town -- when he
tries to return a sub par peach.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>(Kramer spits out his peach)</em> <br />
<strong>JERRY:</strong> Bad peach? <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> It's terrible! <br />
<strong>JERRY:</strong> Did you get that at Joe's? <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> Yeah, of course I got it at Joe's. <br />
<strong>JERRY:</strong> That's surprising, his fruit is usually the best. <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna return this. <br />
<strong>JERRY:</strong> You're returning used fruit? <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> Jerry, this peach is sub par. </p>
<p><em>[at Joe's]</em> <br />
<strong>JOE:</strong> Hey, you got a bad peach? That's an act of God. He makes the peaches. I don't make the peaches, I sell the peaches. You have a problem? You talk to him. <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> You know this whole place is going vrrrrrrrrrrrrt, downhill. I could have come in here last week with a bad plum but I let it go. <br />
<strong>JOE:</strong> Well let me put a solution for you: do your business elsewhere, I don't want your business. <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> Oh now you don't want my business. <br />
<strong>JOE:</strong> No, I don't want your business and from this moment you're banned from the store, you're banned! <br />
<strong>KRAMER:</strong> But what am I gonna do for fruit? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Because in their eyes, Ian had returned one too many Amazon products, they sent
him a message ala Joe:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the normal course of business, the occasional problem is inevitable. The
rate at which such problems have occurred on your account is extraordinary,
however, and cannot continue. Effective immediately, your Amazon.com account
is closed and you are no longer able to shop in our store.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And this is not the first time <a href="http://consumerist.com/5044959/amazon-closes-accounts-en-masse">Amazon has banned
users</a>.</p>
<p>Without an Amazon account, users like Ian can't access their Kindle books
online. The DRM infecting their local copies of those ebooks prevents them from
moving the books to another device they might actually be able to use without being
forced to depend on an arbitrary and temperamental owner. Since they don't get
warning before being banned, they may not even have all of the books they have
purchased in the past downloaded to their local device, and being banned means
they can't access anything stored under their Amazon account.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200144530">Kindle terms of
service</a>
warn that they may arbitrarily choose to do this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Changes to Service. Amazon reserves the right to modify, suspend, or
discontinue the Service at any time, and Amazon will not be liable to you
should it exercise such right.</p>
<p>Termination. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate
without notice from Amazon if you fail to comply with any term of this
Agreement. In case of such termination, you must cease all use of the
Software and Amazon may immediately revoke your access to the Service or to
Digital Content without notice to you and without refund of any fees.
Amazon's failure to insist upon or enforce your strict compliance with this
Agreement will not constitute a waiver of any of its rights.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said in the past, "Our vision is every book, ever
printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds" -- but like a
fortune cookie, to understand what he really means here you need to add
"exclusively controlled by us" to the end of the quote.</p>
<p>After extensive argument, Amazon did decide to give Ian one more chance, and
restored his account, but this is nonetheless a warning of the way DRM can be
used to control users. Whether it's right for them to be banning people for
returning too many things or not, it isn't right for them to have this much
control over what and how people can and can't read.</p>
<h2>Take Action</h2>
<p>
<a style="font-size:large;" href="http://digg.com/gadgets/Impeach_Bezos_for_Amazon_s_Kindle_Swindle"><strong>Digg this story!</strong></a>
</p>
<p>DRM is rotten and needs to go. So, taking inspiration from Kramer and Joe, this
morning we decided to send Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos some peaches, from Defective By
Design. Turns out fresh peaches of the kind Joe would be proud of aren't in
season until May, so we looked for the next best thing appropriate for someone
whose company throws frequent temper tantrums to try and control what other people do -- <a href="http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=161831&amp;catid=104868">peach baby
food</a>.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/sites/defectivebydesign.org/files/015000071301.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>We hope he gets the message that he's swindling his customers and in the process
undermining important fundamental freedoms to read and share. Amazon seems to
understand this message when it comes to music -- why don't they get it when it
comes to the Kindle?</p>
<ul>
<li>You can help us "impeach" Bezos by <a href="http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=161831&amp;catid=104868">sending him some more
peaches</a>. Don't forget to include a gift note with it linking back to DefectiveByDesign.org, and be sure to let us know too, at <a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">&#x69;&#x6E;&#102;o&#64;&#x64;&#101;fe&#99;&#116;&#x69;&#x76;&#101;&#x62;&#x79;&#100;&#x65;&#115;&#105;&#x67;&#x6E;&#46;&#111;&#x72;&#103;</a>.</li>
<li>Of course, if you have a Kindle, you might want to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200144510&amp;#kindle">return that
too</a>.</li>
</ul>
<address>
Jeff Bezos, CEO <br />
Amazon.com <br />
1200 12TH AVENUE S SUITE 1200 <br />
SEATTLE, WA <br />
98144
</address>
<p><em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookies/540198316/">Peaches picture</a> used under the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC BY-SA 2.0 license</a>.</em></p>
<p><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/oreilly/6629316/">Jeff Bezos (as used on the baby food) by O'Reilly (not on baby food)</a></p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:45:39 +0000John Sullivan1241 at https://www.defectivebydesign.orgSpore and More: Activate against Electronic Artshttps://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1159
<div class="field field--name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field--type-taxonomy-term-reference field--label-above"><div class="field__label">Topic:&nbsp;</div><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/10">drm</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/taxonomy/term/58">sony</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/amazon">amazon</a></div><div class="field__item odd"><a href="/topic/games">games</a></div><div class="field__item even"><a href="/topic/electronic_arts">electronic arts</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden"><div class="field__items"><div class="field__item even"> <div style="float: right; width: 100px;"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_url='http://www.defectivebydesign.org/spore'</script>
<script type="text/javascript">reddit_title='Spore and more: activate against Electronic Arts'</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.reddit.com/button.js?t=3"></script></div>
<p>Electronic Arts (EA) and Amazon have been the targets of a justified online
rebellion the last couple weeks. The impetus for the backlash is EA's use of
Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology in its game <em>Spore</em>. As of right
now, the game has received <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000FKBCX4">2,226 1-star
reviews</a> on Amazon -- more
than we've ever seen before -- and they are primarily focused on EA's DRM
system. DefectiveByDesign members have tagged the game with tags like
<strong>defectivebydesign</strong> and <strong>drm infected</strong>.</p>
<a style="background-image: none; border: none; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000FKBCX4"><img src="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/sites/defectivebydesign.org/files/images/amazon-250.png" alt="" style="float: right; padding: 0.5em;" /></a>
<h3><a href="http://digg.com/gaming_news/Spore_and_more_activate_against_Electronic_Arts">Digg this story</a></h3>
<p>As with music and video, this system controls how many copies a user can make
of her game, and requires that she allow her computer to phone home
periodically to an activation server to be granted permission. The system is
called SecuROM, and while that name might not be familiar, there are familiar
names behind it. SecuROM is a product of Sony DADC -- the same Sony that had to
<a href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/01/sony.shtm">reach a settlement with the Federal Trade
Commission</a> last year over the
rootkit installed by their noxious DRM.</p>
<p>EA, forced to respond to the complaints, has done the minimum amount possible
to try and make the heat go away. Their upcoming game <em>Command &amp; Conquer: Red
Alert 3</em> will restrict users to five copies instead of three, and will enforce
the phone-home requirement when the game is first installed rather than later
on.</p>
<img src="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/sites/defectivebydesign.org/files/images/ea-drm.gif" title="Anti-DRM creature created by a Spore player" style="float:left; padding:0.5em;" alt="" />
<p>But they have not changed the fundamentals of the system. Their "concession" is
just more proof of the problems with DRM -- the ability of EA to arbitrarily
decide how a user can use software on her own computer, and to make a part of
her own computer off-limits so that it can spy on her in order to make sure
that she abides by their restrictions. Requiring online activation on
installation at all means that once the activation servers are shut down (as
has been threatened all too often lately with music services like MSN and
Yahoo), users are out of luck. Activation also doesn't mean what you might
think -- the Amazon reviews are full of horror stories about failed activations
after adding new components like video cards and disk drives to an existing
computer.</p>
<p>The packaging and advertising for <em>Spore</em> of course does not mention its DRM.
When people find out about it, they don't want to buy it. The only way people
are going to hear about it is if they hear it from you.</p>
<h3>Take Action</h3>
<ul style="border-top: thin solid black; border-bottom: thin solid black; padding: 1.5em 0; margin: 1.5em 0;">
<li style="list-style-image:none;">1. If you're already an Amazon customer, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spore-Mac/dp/B000FKBCX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1221757721&sr=1-1">go to the product page</a>and add your own rating then review <em>Spore</em>, and
tag it <strong>defectivebydesign</strong> and <strong>drm infected</strong>. Reviews aren't open for
<em>Red Alert 3</em>, but you can still tag it and add information about DRM to its
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Command-Conquer-Red-Alert-3-Pc/forum/Fx1HJE2RTRO2AI9">discussion
forum</a>.</li>
<li style="list-style-image:none;">2. Write directly to EA's CEO John Riccitiello at <a href="mailto:jriccitiello@ea.com">&lt;jriccitiello@ea.com&gt;</a> to tell
him that his response misses the point -- you will not be bought off by the
ability to make two more copies than you could before. EA should act like
true leaders in game design by getting rid of DRM once and for all. CC us at
<a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">&#105;&#x6E;&#x66;&#111;&#64;&#100;&#101;&#102;&#101;&#99;&#x74;&#x69;&#x76;&#x65;&#98;y&#100;&#x65;&#x73;&#x69;&#x67;&#x6E;.&#111;&#x72;&#103;</a>.</li>
<li style="list-style-image:none;">3. Support DRM-free games like those based on the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/hexen-and-heretic">recently
announced</a> free
software game Hexen. Suggest more DRM-free games that we can add to our
<a href="http://defectivebydesign.org/guide">Guide</a>, by emailing us at
<a href="mailto:info@defectivebydesign.org">&#105;&#110;&#x66;&#x6F;&#64;&#x64;&#101;&#x66;&#x65;c&#x74;&#105;&#118;&#x65;&#98;&#121;&#x64;&#101;&#x73;&#105;g&#x6E;&#46;o&#114;&#103;</a>. The more support we can show for these games,
the more there will be.</li>
</ul>
<p>Much like <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6615047.stm">what happened with
Digg</a> and the AACS
encryption key, Amazon after initially taking many of the reviews down was
forced by public pressure to put them back up again. This is because there is
nothing abusive or wrong with these reviews -- they are honest criticisms of an
abusive technology used by far too many proprietary software game companies. We
can have the most success here if we keep things that way, and don't give
Amazon any justification for removing them or EA reason to dismiss them.</p>
<p>It's been exciting to see awareness of DRM already rising to such a high level.
Congratulations to all the DefectiveByDesign activists and other reviewers who
made this happen. Let's keep this momentum going until all game companies do
the right thing and eliminate DRM!</p>
<!--BREAK-->
</div></div></div>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:06:25 +0000John Sullivan1159 at https://www.defectivebydesign.org